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As of today we have officially moved off of SquareSpace and over to MacKidsBooks.com where we're going to continue to bring you geeky posts about books, a look inside our Flatiron fortress and content from our authors.

There's a saying going around the internet that “swag doesn’t pay the bills.” In Children’s Marketing, that is patently not true. Swag totally pays the bills—or, at least it helps sell books, which is what keeps the lights (and air conditioning) on in this funky-shaped building. [Note: Much of Macmillan is housed in New York City’s Flatiron Building, an angular architectural wonder that is on the National Register of Historic Places and has a perfect five-star rating on Yelp. Swag.]

Kids book swag is kind of like a party favor—if your book had a birthday bash or a wedding, it would thank you for coming and hand you a little gift on your way out that looked like one of the following:

Bookmarks: Classic swag! A bookmark doesn’t stray too far from the world of ink and paper. Almost anything can be a bookmark, including smaller books—but do this too much and you get a Matryoshka doll effect with a couple of broken bindings. Better to pick up the real deal!

Poster: When you’re not reading your book, it can still beautify your world. A children’s book poster usually consists of a spread from the book with a tagline that is funny, telling or inspiring. Since they are often displayed in libraries and bookstores, these posters may have messages which encourage you to read. Consider yourself warned.

Class Activities: Sometimes class activities are on the back of a poster; sometimes they’re on their own. You can check out book pages on the Macmillan website to see if there are bonus activities! Is this type of swag a little like the carrot sticks that one of your neighbors gives out on Halloween instead of candy? Maybe. Did that person know what was best for you? Definitely. Some of these activities were created by interns, specifically this intern, and they are FUN—and good for you.

Buttons, Tote Bags, Pencils: This genre of swag is my favorite, as it’s a killer combination of practical and expressive. Plus, sometimes tote bags contain… more swag. And books.

Alternative Swag: Here’s where things get really creative. Did you know that Shadow and Bone has its own nail polish? And that the upcoming Crewel has its own swanky purple wristband? 52 Reasons to Hate My Father had a giveaway that included heiress sunglasses like the one in the book. Step aside, Duane Reade, because Mackids has this covered. These novelty items are a ton of fun to come up with in marketing meetings—it’s an interesting challenge to design a small object that both conveys something about a whole book and is useful or cool on its own.

Now you might be asking yourself: Where can I get my hands on some swag? Easy! To get a party favor, go to a party. Check out author signings and book festivals. Buddy up with your local librarian. Consider working in publishing! The whole floor may or may not have sampled custom Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group cookies to make sure they were OK for ALA. (They were, but it’s always good to check.) Turn your swag on, and happy reading!

Fierce Reads was launched in June with a spectacular tour! Four debut authors went on the road, with special author guests joining them along the way. The Fierce Reads tour took the authors across the country to meet new fans.

All these devices were created by the man known as The Wizard of Menlo Park: Thomas Edison.

Edison is most famous for inventing the incandescent lightbulb, but at his landmark laboratories in Menlo Park & West Orange, New Jersey, he also developed many other staples of modern technology. Despite many failures, Edison persevered. And good for that, because it would be very difficult to go through a day without using one of his life-changing inventions. In this enlightening book, Gene Barretta enters the laboratories of one of America’s most important inventors.

Timeless Thomas by Gene Barrettais "a glowing tribute to the inventor who continues to influence modern life", according to a starred Kirkus and a "...useful tool to introduce history and inventions to reluctant readers or students…" according to School Library Journal

What is it about bears that make them such lovable children’s book characters? Is it their adorably awkward gait, fuzzy exterior, or just that “bear” rhymes with a lot of words? Whatever it is, I am a fan of this theme. I want to live in a world where bears are not dangerous wild animals, but are instead cuddly creatures who like to hang out with their forest friends—friends that they definitely don’t want to eat.

This totally makes sense. Bedtime is contagious, like yawns. If a child sees a well-behaved peer getting down with sleepytimes, they’re much more likely to go to bed without a fuss. But books aren’t just for bedtime. They’re for all day, every day! That’s why I propose…

Variation I’d like to see:Wake up, surprise story-time! (This is best done between the hours of 12am and 4am.)

There are some great picture books about children and grandparents. The kids are sweet, the grandparents are role-models, and nobody ever says anything that has become politically incorrect within the past twenty years just a little too loudly for comfort while you’re out and about.

Variation I’d like to see: A picture book about my grandmother specifically. We call her Mimi, and she is a witty southern lady who pointedly compliments my “lingerie” when I wear shirts without sleeves.

FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH is not only my tenth novel with Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, but my tenth book with my longtime editor Christy Ottaviano. I don’t know any writer beside myself who has done ten books solely with one house, let alone one editor.

That’s not to say Christy will offer to publish every idea I come up with – I have a picture book about a chameleon detective she’s politely declined several times – but for the most part, our tastes in interesting stories for kids has been spot on.

Back in the nineties, I wrote what would become my first book – TRU CONFESSIONS – in Jack Gantos’s ‘Writing Novels for Children’ class at Emerson College. Little did I know when I entered that MFA classroom that I was meeting not only a mentor and friend but also taking the first step toward my own vocation. When I finished writing TRU CONFESSIONS in Jack’s workshop and sent it to an agent, she immediately thought of an editor who might enjoy it: Christy Ottaviano at Henry Holt. Christy did, and thus began our fifteen-year collaboration.

Christy and I worked for several months on that book, after which she asked what else I’d been working on. I gave her the manuscript to an early chapter book MARTY FRYE, PRIVATE EYE and she wisely suggested an up-and-coming artist, Laurie Keller, to illustrate it. Christy and I spent a lot of time on the manuscript to MULTIPLE CHOICE, one of the first novels in the middle grade world to deal with OCD. But it was really my next book that would put our collaboration to the test.

Editor Christy OttavianoWhen I handed in the first draft to THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LARRY, I didn’t tell Christy she was in the manuscript, along with Bono, Barbara Walters, and me. I also forgot to mention the photos, footnotes, and a story that walked the line between fiction and non-fiction. When someone in the production department said the footnotes had to go, Christy told him they were integral to the book and he’d have to find a way to make them work. I’ve played with format in all my books and Christy has always supported my out-of-the-box way of storytelling. I’d love to take the credit for the idea for two sequels, but neither Christy nor I had the foresight for that one. When I was getting five hundred emails a day from readers who insisted on finding out what happened next, Christy asked me to write two more Larry books. In between, I wrote FAULT LINE, which I dedicated to her for her many years of friendship and support. Christy has always been thrilled with the awards and accolades my books have received and no one was happier than I when she earned her own imprint at Henry Holt: Christy Ottaviano Books.

Christy loved the first chapters I gave her of MY LIFE AS A BOOK and thought it was great that I’d hired a cartoonist to do illustrations in the margins. I didn’t tell her till after she offered to publish it that the illustrator was my teenage son. Christy has been a great editor with Jake too, giving him excellent feedback on his drawings and putting him on the path to his own illustration career. Jake and I did MY LIFE AS A STUNTBOY with her, as well as two titles for 2013: MY LIFE AS A CARTOONIST and EINSTEIN THE CLASS HAMSTER.

Hello, all! My name is Katherine and I’m the Marketing intern at Mackids for the summer. A bit about me: I’m entering my senior year at college. I like writing and singing and comedy, and I major in the wonderfully dense discipline of Comparative Literature. Sometimes when I talk about what I study, I see people’s eyes glaze over and I know all they’re hearing is, “Blah, blah, blah.” Other times, I meet someone who is excited to discuss literary theory with me in an intelligent manner. Unfortunately, when that happens, my eyes tend to glaze over and all I hear is “Blah, blah, blah.” Theory is funny like that.

So enough about that…. Let’s talk about books!

I was delighted the other day to read the super-talented Lane Smith’s It’s A Book, which shows a conversation between a bibliophile monkey and a techie jackass. The monkey explains again and again that what he’s reading is a book while the jackass bombards him with questions: does it have Wi-Fi? Can it text? Tweet?

Sadly, I found myself identifying with the jackass. As a Comp Lit student, you’d think I’d spend more time with books than I do — but I often use websites and printouts, photocopies and sometimes even audiobooks (set to 3x speed so I feel like I’m being serenaded by chipmunks).

When you do use a book in college, you get the least expensive version you can find. (If you’re lucky, you pick up a used copy from a slacker. Those are always in perfect condition.) Then you spend the money you saved on pizza and deodorant. The truth is, schoolbooks are often a means to an end. You get the information in whatever form is cheapest and easiest, because you cover it up in your own highlights and annotations anyway. (My annotations are usually along the lines of “?????”)

So one of the things I’ve loved most about this internship is getting back to real, honest-to-goodness books. And if there’s one type of book that is lovely and cannot be photocopied or texted or tweeted or annotated, it’s a children’s book. Here’s a secret I learned this summer that they don’t teach you in school: books without pictures are overrated. Here, I’m surrounded by children’s books with gorgeous artwork. There are some for an older crowd over at the graphic novel imprint, First Second, too. They’re the kind of books that make you want to read and keep and display them, and then find a kid so you can show them what’s up. If you ever forget why you love books, see if you can get your hands on a really beautiful one. (Don’t get me wrong, though—books without pictures are also great. And we have those, too!)

So that’s something of me and what I’m interested in! (You know, the objectified book as it fits into modern materialist theory and the complications which Derrida brings up regarding blah, blah, blah, blah, blah…) See you next week!

Stuey Lewis Against All Odds by Jane SchoenbergOkay, so now you’re out of school for over a week, and even though you don’t have to put up with the Queen of Obnoxious every day for the rest of the summer, which believe me is a very good thing, you’re going to have to do something with your time, so here’s a list of a few suggestions, from me.

Dream Big: Take a rocket ride to the moon. Okay, I know it’s far–238,855 miles to be exact, but I pulled off teleporting my entire class to Dad’s space center, 1000 miles away. Pretty cool, huh?

Dream Big: Fly to Disneyland! I can tell you how not to get locked in an airplane bathroom, and just where those airsick bags are located, in case you need one like Anthony did, the first time we flew alone to visit Dad in Georgia.

Dream Big: Start your own carwash business. I can tell you how NOT to get your mom soaked, or her hair all caught in a car vacuum.. Trust me, you might earn enough money for that ticket to Disneyland, or at least enough for a brownie sundae from Scoops.

Dream Big: Start a pet-walking business. I can tell you how to handle any kind of pet. Even a shark. No lie.

Dream Big: Read! Go to your public library and sign up for the summer reading program. I can tell you this will score you big-time points with everyone. Will signed up for 15 books, and I signed up for five. Guess which book is number one on both of our lists?

Dream Big: Read is a summer reading program where participating libraries across the country use a common theme to promote reading during the summer. To learn more about the program visit http://www.cslpreads.org/ and visit your local library to Dream Big!

Crewel by Gennifer AlbinHello, internet! My name is Caitlin — the newest addition to the Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group — and I’m coming to you live from the tenth floor of the Flatiron Building, overlooking a crazy line at Shake Shack. You’ll be hearing a lot from me moving forward so I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself* and tell you a little bit about why I’m so excited to be talking books with you.

Working in publishing is literally being surrounded by stories. Having only landed at Macmillan recently, I am AMAZED by the number of great stories floating around and the impressive population of fellow book nerds in my department. In fact, there are so many great stories and campaigns coming down the pipeline that I’m SO excited about and can’t wait to get all of you excited about also!

Specifically, two super incredibly fantastic awesome books that I’m personally very excited about coming out this fall are Crewel by Gennifer Albin and Promised by Caragh O’Brien.

Crewel, the first in the Crewel World trilogy (Get it? Cruel World? Crewel World? Love it!) by Gennifer Albin, is a smart dystopian with a smart protagonist. This book is part of our fall 2012 Fierce Reads campaign and on sale October 16!

Promised by Caragh O'BrienPromised is the final book in the Birthmarked Trilogy by Caragh O’Brien. I’ve been a fan of these books since the reading Birthmarked in 2010. In this dystopian trilogy, the world is divided by those who live inside the wall, and those who live outside. The protagonist, a teenage midwife, must go inside the wall to try and save the lives of her parents. I’ve loved all three books and as a finale, Promised doesn’t disappoint.

*One of the many complications of being included in the latter part of Generation Y (which could also be called the special snowflake generation, those kids who think vampires sparkle, etc.) is that I cannot say or even think ‘allow me to introduce myself’ without Eminem’s “Will the Real Slim Shady Please Stand Up?” getting caught in my head forever (you’re welcome!).

Step 1. Get used to the idea of writing at said full-time job under the guise of doing something else — e.g., sending an important “work-related” email. Look really busy and important while performing this task, and you’re well on your way toward becoming a lot more selfish…ly productive!

Step 2. Develop a solid foundation of hatred for your boss. This was super easy for me to seal the deal at the time I was writing The Edumacation of Jay Baker, but others with non-psycho supervisors who don’t write down everything they’ve done wrong on a dry-erase board may struggle. I encourage you to push through the nice things your boss has done for you, though, and find the big ball of hate at the pit of your stomach – you know it’s in there, and it’s the only way you can write on your boss’s watch (100% guilt-free!). Be sure to leave at 5:00 on the dot, too. My old boss always appreciated how punctual I was about powering off my computer at 4:59. Really strengthened the noose of our mutually not-beneficial relationship.

Step 3. Give up on the idea of being good at your day job because 1) no one cares and 2) it’s not your lifelong dream career, anyway. Oops, it is? In that case, why are you reading this blog, dawg?

Step 4. Whatever (and whomever) you do, don’t have children. This is one advice dropping that pretty much applies to everything. Why? Because children make everything worse, not better, silly. Yours probably aren’t even going to like you. Golden Retrievers are much more suitable to a writer’s lifestyle; plus, let’s be honest, they’re a lot more fun to talk to (not to mention the tops of their heads are softer). If you already have children, I’m sorry, I can’t help you. Next!

Step 5. Get one of those “work from home” jobs where everyone pretends you’re actually working when you’re most definitely watching TV all day. You know that annoying friend who’s always talking about how he/she can “work from home” whenever they want to? Swallow your pride and hand that $*%#-head your resume. Do it!

Step 6. I’m pretty sure you’re legally entitled to a two-hour lunch break. Boy, are you hungry. Every day, from 11-1:15-ish. Oh, and don’t forget to make all your fake doctor’s appointments!

Step 7. Cut out all social media unless you’re doing “characters who make bad decisions and have poor time management skills” research. You may actually possess those characteristics yourself, believe it or not, which would make researching them unnecessary.

"This list resulted from conversations I’ve been having with my teenage friends, former students, girls I know from where I volunteer as a visiting writer, Skypes with classes and teen book groups, library visits, nieces and nephews, my kids and their friends, and teens who contact me about Birthmarked. I love hearing about what people are reading, and I’m interested in the difference between what I find teens are reading and what people think they’re reading or think they should be reading. What people used to read when they were teens is fascinating, too, though that would be a separate list. I’m certain the list isn’t complete or perfect, but it continues the conversation.

The teens who named their favorite books for this list include athletes, honors students, non-readers, incarcerated girls, a prom queen, loners, computer game players, gay and straight teens, teens from the coasts and in between, teens of many races, artists, and writers. Their choices made the list (alphabetically) regardless if the books were award-winners, banned, popular, controversial, new, or classic. The sole criteria: these books are favorites." --Caragh O'Brien

1. Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

2. M.T. Anderson, Feed

3. Anonymous, Go Ask Alice

4. Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler, The Future of Us

5. Isaac Asimov, The Foundation

6. Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

7. Emilie Autumn, The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls

8. Paolo Bacigalupi, Ship Breaker

9. Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

10. Misty Bernall, She Said Yes: The Unlikely Martyrdom of Cassie Bernall

3:00 PM - The Apocalypsies: Meet the Authors of 2012’s Must-Reads! Mix and mingle with members of the YA & MG 2012 debut author group The Apocalypsies. Come learn about our books and us – and get swag, prizes, cookies and more.

3:30 PM - Phillip C. Stead and Erin E. Stead signing for Bear Has a Story to Tell. Ticket’s required.

Hi everyone! Since Summer is well underway, which is my favorite time of year, it seemed like a good time to check in! Here’s a short list to help you make the most of this wonderful, fantastic, perfect, homework-free season.

1. Never use the words “summer” and “school” in the same sentence.

2. Don’t wear socks between June 1 and September 30.

3. Ice cream melts fast, so eat it quickly, then have some more.

4. If a girl asks you if she looks fat in a bathing suit, never say “yes.”

In May, Leslie Kilbourn’s 8th grade Language Arts class received a big surprise in the mail — two dozen copies of the paperback version of The Water Seeker (pictured above).

These Deer Park Junior High School students had a direct impact on the design of the paperback’s cover! Author Kimberly Willis Holt had visited the classroom several months earlier, where the students confessed their love for The Water Seeker and discussed the upcoming publication of the paperback version — pointing out that something important to the story was missing from the cover mockup Holt shared. Can you guess what it was?

Kilbourn and class were so excited to receive the books that she wrote a thank you note to the author, with the picture above.

THANK YOU, Ms. Kilbourn! Teachers getting students excited about reading AND talking about what they read makes our day.

So I’ve been telling people for years that the original idea for CHARLIE JOE JACKSON’S GUIDE TO NOT READING came one day in September 2009, on the train home from work, when I wrote a quick draft of a picture book idea called THE BOY WHO HATED READING. (You can read the entire draft here.)

But that turns out to be incorrect.

Yesterday I was looking for an old letter on my computer when I came a Microsoft Word file, dated June 2007. This is the file in its entirety:

**

THE NON-READER’S MANUAL

A Book For People Who Don’t Like Books

THE NON-READER’S MANUAL is a humor book geared toward kids 10-16. It will have excuses, tips, suggestions, all with a sympathetic eye toward those who don’t like to read… but ultimately, it will convey the joy and pleasure of reading. It will have illustrations, graphics, and as few words as possible.

**

And that’s as far as I got. I guess I got distracted. That happens a lot.

I have to tell you, seeing that file shocked the hell out of me. I have no memory of writing it. And it was a full two and a half years before I had the idea to write THE BOY WHO HATED READING.

But the interesting thing is, it was at the exact time that my kids – Charlie, Joe and Jack – would have been in middle school, like Charlie Joe Jackson. They were smack in the middle of hating reading, and this must have been my first thought about a book for non-readers. It was probably just a 5-minute moment, that my brain somehow tucked away and brought back out of of storage two years later.